Nepalese going abroad for overseas employment will now have to deposit upto Rs 25,00.00 ($25) in the Migrant Workers' Welfare Fund depending on the duration of their work tenure.

Nepalese going abroad for overseas employment will
now have to deposit upto Rs 25,00.00 ($25) in the Migrant Workers' Welfare Fund
depending on the duration of their work tenure.

The decision is expected to further increase
economic burden of around 2.5 millions Nepali migrant workers who are already
paying unusually high amount to get employed abroad.

An official at the Foreign Employment Promotion
Board (FEPB) said that migrant workers signing three years' work contract will
have to deposit Rs 1,500.

“Similarly, migrant workers whose work contract
exceeds three years will have to deposit Rs 25,00.

According to the report of My Republica, that means
workers going to Gulf countries and Malaysia will have to pay Rs 15,00, while
those going to Korea, Israel and other countries with five years visa will have
to pay Rs 25,00," said the FEPB official.

The FEBP is organizing a press conference later in
the day to inform about the change in Migrant Workers' levy policy. Earlier,
every abroad bound migrant worker had to deposit a lump sum amount of Rs 1,000
irrespective of countries they are going to work in.

The decision, which comes months after the
government made it mandatory to buy insurance premium worth Rs 2.5 millions, is
also expected to further affect government's own low recruitment policy, widely
known as free-visa-free-tic